How Mayonnaise Figures In

Sometimes we actually teach the kids something, and sometimes the kids teach us a thing or two.

Here's the information, as instructed to Mr. W (that's my husband) by his students: Show up at 1:15pm in front of Sacred Heart Church. On the sidewalk across the street from the church will be a man with a cart. This is the corn-on-the-cob-man. Do not go to his competition, the not-as-good-corn-on-the-cob-woman. Order the corn on the cob "with everything."

So we do. We show up at 1:15. Sure enough, the man with the cart is there. He is a middle-aged Hispanic man who is wearing pressed white pants and a blue shirt, tucked in. He has a kid, age 7 maybe, sitting next to him on the curb.

My husband orders 2 corn on the cobs "with everything," please.

The man pulls a corn out of a pot and jams a stick in it. He then slathers it in mayonnaise. Mayonnaise? Yes, mayonnaise! He covers the mayonnaise coated corn in a thick layer of parmesan cheese. Then, he pours butter on the mayonnaise-parmesan corn and then he sprinkles chili powder over the whole thing. The corn-on-the-cob-man hands me this corn-mayo-cheese-butter-chili concoction and repeats the procedure with a second corncob for my husband.

The corn on the cob is the bargain price of $1.

We walk around the block because there is no way in hell that my husband will allow a dripping, buttery, sloppy, greasy piece of corn in his car.

The walk is nice, even if it is through the ghetto. And the students were right: the corn is the best I've ever had.